The Sixth Sense

The Sixth Sense is a ghost story, both frightful and suspenseful. It’s also a stylish Hollywood film, beautifully filmed, directed, and acted, where more is revealed every time, it is viewed. The dictionary defines a person with a sixth sense as someone having “a keen intuitive power of perception.” Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) is a young boy with an advanced power of perception. He is haunted by the knowledge that he “see dead people,” ghosts that other people do not see; ghosts who seem to need Cole’s help with their unresolved issues. Afraid to upset his distraught mother (Collette) with this, Cole turns to child psychologist Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) who listens patiently to his descriptions of the ghosts who “only see what they want to see.” Critically acclaimed for the performances and storytelling, it established M. Night Shyamalan as a preeminent filmmaker of thrillers. — Leanne von Mittenwald